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Literary Grumble
Jan. 17th, 2013 08:17 amI love books, and I love reading, and I love genre fiction, but over the past few months I've noticed a consistent pattern in the books I've been reading that has bugged the ever-loving crap out of me.
Several times in recent books, I've noticed that whenever an author describes an overweight character, they need to remind us of this fact in nearly every sentence - several times per paragraph, even. Almost every single time they reference the character. He can't just stand up; he 'stands up, his jiggly body shuddering.' She can't walk across the room, she has to 'shift her enormous bulk across the room.' They can't be referred to by name, they're always referenced as 'the fat man/girl/whatever.'
And they don't write this way for other characters. Tall, or ugly, or people of color, or other descriptors get tossed out once or twice and then let go of, as if the readers can be counted on to remember it for themselves. It's just fat that they need to constantly reiterate.
And this bothers me and offends me and upsets me for scads of reasons. It's shaming and phobic and cruel, because the language they use is always negative and because it's never allowed to rest. It narrows the character down to one specific trait - they're not allowed to be beautiful, or clever, or creative, or a good piano player; they have their one trait and that's their pigeonhole and they're stuck in it. It's just bad writing - the repetition grates on my nerves and it makes me feel like the author thinks I'm kind of stupid and can't remember a character description for more than a sentence or two. And, worst of all.... I had thought that we, as genre folk, were better than this. That because we F&SF fans and writers were intelligent, open-minded, accepting people we wouldn't engage in this kind of prejudice and cruelty. (I know that's naive, and I know that no group is perfect, but still... I'd expect that if I found this kind of meanness anywhere it'd be in Sweet Valley High novels, not in The Walking Dead.)
It stinks, and I wish there were a way to go to the writers and shake my finger at them and point out that what they're doing is bullying and shaming, but until I figure out how to do that (beyond B&N reviews and hoping to run into them at cons) I'll just say here, for any of my writer friends:
I'm guessing you don't do this. But for the record? It's okay to have fat characters, and thin characters, and green characters, and alcoholic/autistic/Amish/anything you like characters. But when you use one trait as a bludgeon, and consistently associate it with negative or cruelly-humorous descriptors, and feel the need to mention it every single time you reference the character? That's not cool.
Several times in recent books, I've noticed that whenever an author describes an overweight character, they need to remind us of this fact in nearly every sentence - several times per paragraph, even. Almost every single time they reference the character. He can't just stand up; he 'stands up, his jiggly body shuddering.' She can't walk across the room, she has to 'shift her enormous bulk across the room.' They can't be referred to by name, they're always referenced as 'the fat man/girl/whatever.'
And they don't write this way for other characters. Tall, or ugly, or people of color, or other descriptors get tossed out once or twice and then let go of, as if the readers can be counted on to remember it for themselves. It's just fat that they need to constantly reiterate.
And this bothers me and offends me and upsets me for scads of reasons. It's shaming and phobic and cruel, because the language they use is always negative and because it's never allowed to rest. It narrows the character down to one specific trait - they're not allowed to be beautiful, or clever, or creative, or a good piano player; they have their one trait and that's their pigeonhole and they're stuck in it. It's just bad writing - the repetition grates on my nerves and it makes me feel like the author thinks I'm kind of stupid and can't remember a character description for more than a sentence or two. And, worst of all.... I had thought that we, as genre folk, were better than this. That because we F&SF fans and writers were intelligent, open-minded, accepting people we wouldn't engage in this kind of prejudice and cruelty. (I know that's naive, and I know that no group is perfect, but still... I'd expect that if I found this kind of meanness anywhere it'd be in Sweet Valley High novels, not in The Walking Dead.)
It stinks, and I wish there were a way to go to the writers and shake my finger at them and point out that what they're doing is bullying and shaming, but until I figure out how to do that (beyond B&N reviews and hoping to run into them at cons) I'll just say here, for any of my writer friends:
I'm guessing you don't do this. But for the record? It's okay to have fat characters, and thin characters, and green characters, and alcoholic/autistic/Amish/anything you like characters. But when you use one trait as a bludgeon, and consistently associate it with negative or cruelly-humorous descriptors, and feel the need to mention it every single time you reference the character? That's not cool.
